Zoning board tables decision on 1115 Pierce Street rooming-house request after testimony on sober-house operations and ADA issues

The Concord Zoning Board of Adjustment on Wednesday opened a special-exception hearing for 1115 Pierce Street, a duplex the owners say operates as a sober recovery home, but tabled further action and directed staff to obtain legal advice about reasonable-accommodation obligations under federal disability law and to provide police-call history.

Applicant Andrew Tine, representing 1115 Pierce Street LLC, said the property has been used as a recovery residence for about a year and that the owners are seeking either a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act or, alternatively, a special exception as a rooming house under the zoning code.

Deputy City Solicitor John Conforti told the board the matter before it that night was the special-exception application; whether the applicant might also be entitled to a reasonable accommodation under federal law would require a separate, more detailed administrative analysis and potentially an interactive process with staff.

Neighbors told the board they opposed the request. Maggie Keane, who lives across the street, said the property has produced frequent police and fire responses after it changed hands in July 2023 and that residents are concerned about noise, traffic and a lack of screening for residents who move in. Roy Schweiker, speaking in support of sober recovery housing generally, questioned the proposed maximum occupancy and urged the board to limit numbers if it approved the use.

Planning staff and code enforcement highlighted two technical issues: the zoning ordinance’s “rooming house” supplemental standard limits a rooming house to a maximum of 10 occupants in a single structure, and the code requires two off-street parking spaces per room (a total of 10 spaces for a five-room calculation). The applicant acknowledged the property currently houses 13 residents and asked for a maximum of 16 but said the operator typically screens and drug-tests residents and has increased on-site management.

Board members said they were not prepared to rule on the ADA/Fair Housing Act question without more analysis from legal counsel and asked staff to obtain (1) legal guidance on how reasonable-accommodation claims interact with the zoning review and (2) police-call records for the property so the board could quantify any public-safety impacts. The board voted 4–1 to table the matter and to take additional testimony at a later meeting.

What the table means: tabling preserves the applicant’s right to have the special-exception request considered at a future session after the board receives requested legal guidance and public-safety data. Parking, occupancy and any conditions on occupancy or management will be resolved in subsequent zoning deliberations and, if granted, through site-plan review.